Chocolate Habs ripening -- Thanks Ottawapepper!

johnpo(6)May 24, 2014

The many weeks of waiting for my little pods to start changing from green to brown is over! They say good things come to those who wait, and I can't think of a better example of this being true than habaneros!

A special thanks to Ottawapepper for donating the seeds to me (in 2009!!). After a long hiatus from growing stuff, I planted one chocolate hab seed this year. It sprouted and took off -- a100% germination rate! :)

Needless to say it's very exciting to watch the pods changing. My mouth is already watering.

I ate the first dozen pods to come off the plant... They were absolutely stunning. So much flavor compared to the store-bought orangies that are everywhere. Bright and crisp flavor, and the peppers have much thicker walls.

Here's a link to a time-lapse movie of one of the pods ripening. The middle 40 seconds is the part where the pod is full size but stays green seemingly for ever (it took about 3 weeks, maybe even closer to 4 for that 40 seconds to elapse).

As for sunlight, the plant has been getting... (glurnk! Should I admit this??)... purely fluorescent lighting from an Aerogarden! I can't recommend the Aerogarden after all the trouble I've had with it, but I have to admit I'm very surprised at how well the pepper plant has done. All the other plants in it are dead, but the pepper plant has extended as much over the top of the light hood as there is space between the hood and the base, which is considerable.

As with all the peppers I've grown indoors, I have to hand-pollinate to get any pods, and the success rate is tear-jerkingly low, but indoor growing is my only option.